The Up-And-Coming Airline
5
Hotline sizzling with ideas
Phil Coley had an Idea, one that
he felt would eliminate crew work
load and increase safety during an
emergency descent.
With just a couple of extra feet
of wire and a new throw switch,
Coley devised a way to wire the no
smoking/fasten seat belt sign so
that it will illuminate automatical
ly when the passenger oxygen
system is activated. Presently, the
pilot has to flip the no smoking/
seat belt switch manually.
So last August, Coley, who
works in line maintenance, INT,
called Careline’s Hotline with his
suggestion. Within a few days he
received a response from George
Reynolds, staff vice president.
Maintenance and Engineering,
who liked the idea. Reynolds for
warded the suggestion to Engi
neering, and within a few months
the modification became part of
Piedmont's standard equipment
on the B-737. Engineering, in
turn, passed the idea on to Boeing
for their consideration.
Over 500 suggestions have been
either called in on line 825 or
mailed in by employees since Hot
line's beginning six months ago.
"The program has worked really
well,' Bill Asher, Careline coordi
nator said. "One beautiful thing is
the way management has re
sponded to the program. We get a
response to questions almost im
mediately."
When a suggestion comes in on
the Hotline, it is first typed on a
Careline form, a copy made, then
it is sent to the person responsible
for implementing the idea," Asher
explains. Written suggestions are
forwarded as they come in. The
answered form is returned to
Asher who relays it back to the
employee. He also sends a copy to
all Piedmont officers and manag
ers for their information.
"We won't circulate the sugges
tion to the field if so requested by
the employee," Asher said. “We
watch out for the employee’s best
interests.
“The program is really working
well," he added. “Careline is people
caring about the kind of service
customers receive. And I think our
Hotline is just another way em
ployees can show they care."
Got a suggestion? Call Hotline 825 or
send in your idea on a Careline sugges
tion form to INT A-320.
1980 a record-
breaking year
continued from page 1
new routes and added nonstop
services between major existing
cities on our system.
"Piedmont has developed a
number of new tools in 1980
which will continue to support
our efforts in 1981," Howard said.
He listed among them our new ad
campaign; our refurbished fleet of
efficient 737s; and a self-feed pro
gram which enables Piedmont to
control more of its passengers
from the beginning to the end of
their trip.
“Although 1980 was in most
respects a great year, we did see
one warning sign which needs the
attention of all of us. For the year,
our revenues increased by 33.9
percent, whereas our expenses in
creased by 34.4 percent. That
relationship cannot be allowed to
continue," Howard said.
"Our entire future lies in our
ability to compete with new, low
cost carriers who are either non
union, or whose work force is
made up of very junior people at
the bottom of their salaiy scale. If
we continue to let our expenses
grow at a more rapid rate than
our income, then we will find
ourselves in the same predicament
that presently plagues several of
the major trunk carriers. There
fore, it’s more important than ever
that we maximize our efficiency,
and control our labor costs as
never before."
Among those
attending the
meeting are
(above) Patricia
Piekarski. Sales.
ORD: (above right)
Joe Wathen,
Sales. SDF: (at
right) Preston
Blum. Sales. ATL.
George Price (left). Accounting, and Jim
Taylor. Engineering, have been reelected
to the Board of Directors of the Credit
Union. Wayne Pope. Scheduling and
Publications, has also Joined the Board.
They were installed at the annual
meeting. January 27.
1980 at a glance
• $16,062,000 in earnings
• 2.36 billion RPMs
• 4.56 billion ASMs
• 51.8 percent load factor
• more than 5.700,000 pas
sengers boarded
• fleet: 48 planes (6 727s, 36
737s, 6 YS-11s)
• 78 cities served at 43 air
ports
• 127 million gallons of jet
fuel used at an average of
89.3 cents per gallon
• Houston added to network
• 85 percent of flights on time
• baggage mishandlings re
duced by 5,000
• new facilities opened in Dal
las/Ft. Worth, Charlotte,
Atlanta, Tampa, and Hous
ton
• new cargo facilities opened
in Louisville, Tampa, and
Tri-Cities
• Nashville reservations office
opened
• CRO and Nashville handled
over 7,200,000 calls. 72 per
cent in 20 seconds or less
• new inflight food service
introduced
• more than $366 million in
tickets sold
• number of employees grew
to almost 6,000
• $25 million in convertible PI
stock successfully issued
BeautifW^*
IFrom The Mayor and Board of Aldermen!
w^;OME
Piedmont
Airlines
(above) Those attending the
management meeting, held at the
Benton Convention Center in
Winston-Salem, are welcomed to the
City, (at right) President Davis, lefr.
talks with Bob Serling. guest
speaker at the banquet. Serling.
former aviation editor for UPl is
author oj several books, among
them The President's Plane is
Missing as well as histories of
several airlines.
interlining
Rome, Florence, Venice
• From $448 per person, double
• Seven night's accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available through October 1981
Sydney
• From $382 per person, double
• Five night's accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available through December 14.
1981
Guatemala City
• From $134 per person, double
• Three night's accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available tlirough
September 1981
Rio de Janeiro
• From $259 per person, double
• Three night's accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available through
September 1981
London
• From $251 per person, double
• Three night's accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available through
September 24,1981
Munich
• From $182 per person, double
• Three night's accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available through
August 13, 1981
Orient Express - Hong Kong/ Bang
kok
• From $611 per person, double
• Eight night’s accommodations
• Land and air package
• Available through
December 16, 1981
For further information on any of
the above Pan Am bargains, con
tact Trailblazer Safaris, P.O. Box
660066, Miami Springs, Fla., (305)
871-2202.
The Piedmont Ski Club is spon
soring a trip April 9 - 13 to
Keystone, Colorado. The package,
$170 per person, includes four
nights and five days at Keystone
Condominiums, three-day lift
tickets (also good for Arapahoe
Basin Ski Area), one dinner and
awards banquet, NASCAR races,
and welcome and farewell parties.
Lodging is based on two bedroom,
two bath condominiums with four
persons per unit. The price for
non-skiers is $125.
Ground transportation to and
from Denver is not included.
To reserve a space, send a $50
deposit by March 15 to:
Piedmont Airlines Ski Club
2625 Butterfield Road, Suite 150 W
Oak Brook, IL 60521
Full payment is due by April 1.
Space is limited to 100 persons.
For more information call John
Lasater, CHISS. 312/323-9810 (of
fice) or 312/357-0852 after 7 p.m.
(home).